xX Lofty and Dom Xx
by KathGiovan
Summary: Dom has been hurt so many times before, but something has changed...Lofty. Will he keep pushing him away? Or will he change when he is faced with the horrible situation of having to save Loftys life. Its wasn't just a migraine...something much worse. LOVE/COMFORT X (i do not own a copyright of BBC Holby City- this is simply written by a Fan for Fans.)
1. Chapter 1

_**first ever Holby fanfic!**_

Moving from Keller to AAU was tough. There was no doubt about that. Lofty missed the extra time he could take with his patients and he wasn't keen on the very fast paced environment, not to mention getting to know a whole new set of faces on the ward.

Never the less, Lofty was a calm person and took everything head on with a smile, except today his head wasn't giving him a smile but and awful migraine.

"One of those days then eh' Lofty!?" said Fletch sitting at the desk, pulling Lofty out of his blank daydream. He was starring absentmindedly at a load of files in his hands, not really taking in the names of his patients he had to see. The throbbing in his head was so distracting, it had been keeping him up for the past 2 nights.

"Uh yes, i uhmm..right" he clutched his files, gave a false smile to Fletch and went to find his first patient. Fletch just chuckled to himself. He had been the new boy on the ward himself and knew that lofty was going to have to work hard to get his feet on the ground, the thought of the girls teasing him was especially funny.

...

 _Over on Keller.._

Dom was busy juggling 5 of his patients, they were low on staff and so he was covering for 2 missing doctors. He had the night shift and was desperate for a coffee before he left his shift at 10 - that was providing he got all his paper work out of the way.

Whilst talking to patients and trying to get a diagnoses he was getting little flashes of Lofty in his head. Oh how he felt rubbish about it all. He never wanted Lofty to leave keller, he just wanted to punish him, but for what? There was no reason to punish Lofty. He was kind, honest and just too good to be true! but that was the problem. Dom couldn't face the reality that Lofty was just so perfect. He had been there before and had been heartbroken. But deep inside he knew that Lofty was different. He was going to change that. There was no way in hell Dom could let someone like this go..he needed to apologise.

...

 _back on AAU_

After setting up Mrs Johnsons syringe drive and changing several other patients dressings Lofty was already looking at his watch for the time. 10.00AM. He had only been working 2 hours and he was shattered already. He had already dosed himself with Cocodamol and it wasn't even touching his migraine.

A hot sweat went over him and felt slightly breathless.

Lofty decided to make a quick exit from the ward with the hope of nobody noticing, just to cool down for 5 minutes in the stairwell. It was his first week on the ward and he didn't like letting people down. just 5 minutes.

He slammed the door behind him in the stairwell and turned to clutch his head against the door hoping nobody would come from the other side, praying for the pain to reside. It was a sharp throbbing that felt like someone was dragging a sharp blade through the back of his eyes. The pain was excruciating.

He looked down at his watch and noted it had been 4 hours since he last had Cocodamol, time for something stronger. Lofty fumbled through his pockets, feeling dizzy doing so, and pulled out a pack of Tramadol.

Screw the water, he thought, and took 2 large pills. He then resided to resting his head back on the cold door for some relief, waiting for the Tramadol to kick in.

...

 **next chapter coming up...**


	2. Chapter 2

_Keller_

It was 10.05 and all Dom's patients were covered! Dom couldn't believe how he managed it. No doctor manages to leave this close to their end of shift. Alas! He was desperate for sleep but needed a smooth hot coffee before he drove himself home.

"Morning Dom!" said Sasha with his great big smile,coming in through the doors to the staff room, about to start his shift.

Dom liked Sasha, and was dissapointed when they weren't on the same shift together. He was great for a laugh and yet so reliable as a friend and a colleague. There was a slight father figure in him that Dom took to.

"More like 'goodnight' for me! End of Shift Sasha and I am off!" said Dom, giving a big yawn and throwing his rucksack over his shoulder stuffed with a vomit covered uniform (thanks to bed 8) that was in desperate need of washing.

"Make sure to get plenty of rest. You look like you need it" said Sasha, changing his shoes.

"Indeed. But first I need coffee!" said Dom, determined, and shot out of of the door "Bye Sasha!" he shouted behind him before the door shut.

"Large black coffee with an extra shot please".

Dom was down at the shop by the hospital entrance. The aroma of roasted coffee beans was overwhelming but certainly was perking him up for his drive home.

There was still a small voice in his head that was bugging him.

You need to see Lofty.

You need to see Lofty.

You need to apologise.

He's just upstairs above you.

Dom looked at his watch. 10.10AM.

Lofty should have started his shift a couple of hours ago on AAU if he's doing day shifts?...

"Make that 2 black coffees with an extra shot, please"

...

He would pull him off his shift and tell him to take an early break. He needs to tell him how he feels.

Doms mind was rushing on what to say to Lofty whilst he was going up the stairs to AAU, then on the first corner he saw a man in dark blue with curly brown hair pressing his head against the door.

"Lofty?" said Dom. He noticed the strained look on his face. His hands clutching his head so hard his knuckles were white, sweat dripping down his nose. There was no response that he heard Dom, just a small verbal sound of pain.

"Lofty! Whats wrong?!" asked Dom, suddenly worried and started climbing the second set of stairs towards his rucksack and the coffees on one of the steps.

He grabbed his shoulder and shook him a little "Lofty look at me", he forcibly turned him round and pulled his hands away from his head. His face and hair was dripping with beads of sweat, his eyes bloodshot.

Lofty starred blankly into Doms face.

They both starred at each other for a second.

 _next chapter coming up!..._


	3. Chapter 3

_...They both starred at each other for a second._

Suddenly Loftys' eyes rolled up towards his head and collapsed. Dom caught him from falling down the stairs.

"Lofty?! Oh my god. Lofty!" shouted Dom trying to hold his weight. He got him to the floor on his back and was about to put him into the recovery position until Lofty body started to shake.

All his limbs were tensing up and and he started to shake violently. His head banging the concrete floor.

Dom quickly got on the floor and placed lofty head onn his thighs stopping it banging on the looked at his watch.10.15AM.

There was nobody around. He reached for the door behind him to see an empty corridor. He shouted with all his might.

"I NEED SOME HELP DOWN HERE!" he shouted through the corridor and then in the stairwell "I NEED SOME HELP HERE!"

He looked down at Lofty. His eyes still rolling, his jaw locked and his head and limbs thrashing.

...

"It's alright Lofty." he said, stroking Loftys wet hair from his face. He was trying to calm him knowing he was only calming himself.

"Oh for gods sake where is everyone?!" getting angry and frustrated "I NEED SOME HELP DOWN HERE! ANYONE!?"

Dom looked down at his watch again. 10.20AM. A seisure shouldn't last this long. It was too dangerous to move him. He was getting worried about his heart rate.

He pinned his index finger under his jaw towards his scull and found a pulse. It was difficult to keep track as Lofty was shaking so much but he managed to count and looked at his watch. His heart rate was through the roof :180.

There was a small muffled noise above. It was SOMEONE.

"HELP! HELP!I NEED SOME HELP DOWN HERE! PLEASE!"

The sound of loud feet were the first bit of relief Dom had felt.

"Im a doctor. Whats wrong is everything okay?!" said a familiar voice running down the stairs.

"Sasha! Sasha he's fitting I need help to move him!" said Dom urgently.

Sasha came running round the corner of the stairs an saw Lofty fitting on the floor.

"Lofty!" he exclaimed. "How long has he been like that?" said Sasha taking in the whole of Lofty.

Dom looked at his watch.10:22AM.

"7 minutes. His heart rate and temperature are through the roof".Blood started coming out of Lofty mouth and began to foam. "he's bit his tongue".

"Oh god. Right." said Sasha and he ran across through the corridor behind to find a bed to get help.

"It's alright lofty" said Dom still rubbing his shaking head and wiping blood away from his mouth with his bare hands.

...

The shaking slowly began to reside. There were the odd twitches of the hands. His breathing started to return back to its normal rhythm.

Dom checked his heart rate, it had gone down slightly but was still very high.

"Lofty?" said Dom in a calming voce."Lofty, come on, can you hear me?"

With no response it was clear Loftys body was completely shattered.

...

The door behind them opened and Sasha came trough with Fletch.

"It's stopped, just now. 9 minutes, heart rate 170" said Dom, still absentmindedly stroking Loftys head.

Fletch came out with a trolly full of medical kits.

"Lofty?" said Sasha, holding his hand "Lofty can you hear us? Can you give my hand a squeeze for me?"

There was no response.

Sasha opened his eyelids and check them with his light pen. "He's alright. 8 minutes, god he will be exhausted.."

There was a sight gurgling noise coming from Loftys throat.

"Oh lets turn him!" said Fletch, pulling Lofty to his side.

Lofty vomited on his side, his head being held by Fletch and Dom.

"Thats it. Get it all out mate. We were all wondering where you had got too!? "said Fletch, trying to keep spirits up, grabbing a cloth and wiping his mouth from the vomit and blood.

Sasha was checking his blood pressure. "So what happened?" asked Sasha still looking at his blood pressure, then getting out a syringe.

"He was just standing here. He was grabbing his head, he look in absolute agony then he collapsed before I could talk to him properly." said Dom

"Right." said Sasha, injecting a sedative into Loftys arm "Fletch. If you could get a CT and MRI scan of Loftys head and neck. See whats going on. Ill page Mr Hansson"

"Yep no problem" said Fletch.

Fletch slid a neck brace around Loftys head and turned him back over. Dom removed his legs from under him. "You're alright lofty, in safe hands ere' ".

...

 _next chapter coming up..._


	4. Chapter 4

_"Right." said Sasha, injecting a sedative into Loftys arm "Fletch. If you could get a CT and MRI scan of Loftys head and neck. See whats going on. Ill page Mr Hansson"_

 _"Yep no problem" said Fletch._

 _Fletch slid a neck brace around Loftys head and turned him back over. Dom removed his legs from under him. "You're alright lofty, in safe hands ere' "._

 _..._

 _MRI,_

Lofty was placed onto the MRI scanner board.

Still completely out of it and fast asleep.

Dom placed the head brace over his head and clicked it into position.

"Try and stay still for me okay?" asked Dom, squeezing Loftys hand, knowing he wouldn't get a response but lofty might of heard something. He slammed the green button on the MRI which moved Lofty into the machine. He then left to join Sasha in the extension room.

"Fletch has just paged me, said Mr Hansson is on his way" he spoke to Dom "Is he responding yet?"

"No nothing" said Dom, sitting down in one of the chairs facing the several computer screens.

Sasha, turned on the intercom "Lofty we are going to turn on the machine" he stated.

Sasha turned on the MRI via the computer and sat down next to Dom waiting for the images to appear on the screen. There was a quiet moment between them whilst the echo of the MRI's clicking started scanning.

After a few tense and silent minutes the images started to come onto the screen in several photo layers.

"Oh" said Sasha

"Oh my god" whispered Dom putting his hand over his mouth in shock.

Sasha paused one of the photos and enlarged the section of his brain.

A tumor.

There was a large mass, the size of a golf ball in the frontal lobe of the brain near the right of the forehead.

"i've..i've never seen anything like this?" said Sasha. "Im not a neurologist but.."

"Is it malignant?!" ask Dom, tears filling up in his eyes. His heart racing..

A stern voice came from the doorway "We won't know until we get a biopsy, but by the looks of it, the whole mass will need to be removed as soon as possible.." said Mr Hansson. His tall frame walking towards the computer screens, his eyes not moving from the image. He took the mouse from Sasha and scrolled through the images lower through the head.

he pointed at the screen at the mass. "Its pressing against his right retina, it could suffocate a blood vessel. But, thankfully…." he began scrolling up and down through the images "it seems to be self contained which will help the removal."

"He could lose his sight at any moment?" asked Dom. His hands shaking.

"Yes, which is why we should prep him for emergency surgery immediately" said Mr Hansson ignoring Dom and walking away.

"We can't" said Sasha. Hannson turned "His BP is too high, he could bleed out"

"Give him beta blockers, we'll need consent if he wakes, prep him for theatre in the mean time. We should be able to do something within the next hour." Mr Hansson turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

"Oh my god Sasha" cried Dom, his head in his hands.

"C'mon." Sasha gave him a soft hug "He's in the best place possible, you know yourself Mr Hansson is one of the top neuro-surgeons we have here. C'mon lets get him out." said Sasha.

….


	5. Chapter 5

**_In ITU (critical care)..._**

Lofty had been changed by the nurses into a hospital gown and was 'plugged up' into all the monitors. He was being prepped for theatre, but it was still a waiting game for his blood pressure to drop. Sasha had administered Beta-blockers which takes about 10-15 minutes to start working.

He was lying in bed, slightly propped up, and looked very cosy under his hospital blanket. The nurses had cleaned him up and cleaned off his sweaty hair. His face had a peaceful aura about it, so much more relief than seeing him in the eye watering pain he was in.

Sasha had managed to get him into a private room on ITU, and so he should be, thought Dom.

Dom was sitting in the patients chair next to Loftys bed, he had pulled it up as close to the bed as possible and sat there holding Loftys limp hand. He was glad they were in a private room.

Lofty still had yet to regain more consciousness. He had apparently mumbled some worlds for a few seconds when the nurses were changing him but stopped soon after.

"I will never let you go again" whispered Dom. Squeezing Loftys hand. Tears running down his face. "I am so, so, so, sorry. You don't deserve this.." he stroked Loftys hair looking at his beautiful features "i should be here not you. You're so kind, loving, not a bad bone in you and yet you're paying for something that you don't deserve!" said Dom. He burried his head into Lofty's hand and sobbed a bit more before regaining himself.

"You WILL make it through this surgery? Do you hear me?! I love you too much. I love you Lofty... I..."

"I love you too" said a very tired voice. Dom gasped and smiled.

"You're awake? said Dom, squeezing Loftys hand again. Loftys eyes were closed but he squeezed Noms hand back in return and replied in another croaky whisper.

"Where am I?"

"You're in hospital"

A few breaths..."I mean...where?"

"Oh. You're in in Intensive Care."

"What..what happened? Arghh!" Loftys peaceful face suddenly scrunched in pain "My head".

"You've had a seizure" said Dom.

The sudden sharp pain in his head really started to wake Lofty up. He took his hand away from Dom and held his head.

"I'm sorry I can't give you any more painkillers, you're all maxed out.."

"Whats wrong with me?"

"..."

Lofty took his hands away from his face and looked straight into Doms eyes. It was the first time they had looked at each other since lofty had his seizure.

"Dom" he said again, "Whats wrong?"

"..."

"What did you find?"

Dom looked down at his hands not knowing what to say first. A soft familiar hand lay on his."Its okay" said Lofty. He tried to smile in reassurance throughout the pain.

"There's a large tumour on your frontal lobe" said Dom, he gave Lofty a moment to let it sink in before continuing "Its pressing down on your retinal nerve and blood vessels as well. Thats what's causing you so much pain."..."its possibly the reason you had such a sever seizure this morning. Lofty you were fitting for 8 consecutive minutes".

Lofty listend and stay silent. He looked away and stared at the end of the bed. "Can I see?" he said.

Dom reached over to the end of the bed with his notes and the hospital tablet. He picked up the tablet and looked through for Loftys MRI scan, he handed it over to Lofty.

"Oh my god" said Lofty calmly. "How did it get so big without me noticing?" he asked Dom.

"Sometimes the first symptom is the worst" said Dom taking the tablet away.

"Is it cancerous?" said Lofty, a slight note of fear in his voice.

Dom paused.

"Dom" said Lofty.

"It could be."

There was another long silence.

"You're going to have emergency surgery to remove it in about 20 minutes"

"What?!"

"Lofty, Mr Hanson wanted you in surgery right now had you blood pressure not been so high! We've managed to get it down. He'll be here any minute."

"But ..brain surgery.. I could be paralysed,...I could..I could die!" said Lofty, starting to panic, the sharp pain stabbing behind his eye, he clutched his head again. Dom stroked his arm.

"I can guarantee you WILL die if you DON'T have this procedure. You could have another seizure at any second and it could be fatal, the last one nearly was."

"But if its cancerous..."

'...if its cancerous we can treat with chemotherapy. Mr Hanson says the tumour is encapsulated and isn't on any major arteries, its self contained so it should be easy to remove. Its too risky to wait for a biopsy.

"Easy" scoffed Lofty. He crunched his hands more over his head "Make it stop please!" he begged. A single tear running from his eye.

The door of the room opened and 2 very tall, lean men, walked in. Mr Hanson and his son Mr Hanson. They were in their theatre gowns and ready for surgery.

"Ahh! Nurse Chiltern. I see you have regained consciousness " said Mr Hanson, his son remained quiet.

"I don't care what you do anymore ... I consent to everything.." Lofty was starting to sweat profusely, his knuckles going white from clenching his fists on his head.

"Lofty, its okay...' said Dom in a soothing voice trying desperately to calm him down from the pain.

Mr Hanson started to look more concerned. "How much pain relief is Mr Chiltern on?" he asked Dom.

"He's on everything, he can't take any more morphine sir". said Dom.

"Eeaarrgghhhh" Lofty was trying so hard not to scream. The searing pain in his head was becoming unbearable again. He started rocking back and forth in his bed trying anything he could to stop the pain.

"Sedate him now " ordered Mr Hanson to his son. His son walked quickly to the meds trolley and took out a syringe and a glass bottle of fluid.

"What!?" sounded Dom, very alarmed.

"Mr Chiltern needs surgery now, before he goes into another seizure, we need him as stable as possible." Mr Hanson, went round and pulled up the bed barriers , lowered the electric mattress to that lofty was now lying on his back and released the bed from the breaks so it would wheel into the hall.

"But you need him AWAKE! You need him awake during brain surgery, its the only safe way!" said Dom panicking and knowing the statistics.

"Doctor Copeland, we cannot have a patient during open brain surgery rocking back and forward and screaming in pain, especially when he has been given the highest levels of pain relief. He needs this surgery this instant before he loses his sight and worse. Now if you don't mind I need to get past.." said Mr Hanson firmly.

Dom grabbed Lofty hand, kissed it and said "I love you! I love you so much!..." they started moving the trolley out of the room. Amongst his crippling agony he heard Lofty grunt under his breath "I'll be back, don't worry, I love you too" and they rushed him out of the room to theatre.

Dom flopped back in the chair behind him and burst into floods and floods of tears...

 _ **Next chapter coming up soon!...**_


End file.
